The September Issue

The most surprising thing about this documentary was to see that the doyenne of fashion, Anna Wintour, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue magazine, seems to be unfailingly polite. (As parodied by Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada” my impression was that The Ice Queen was rude, demanding and abrupt.) Also, she seems partial to only one type of necklace; I saw her wear it repeatedly in two different colors, but no other variation.

The most UN-surprising thing about this documentary is how absurd I personally find haute couture. I realize that high fashion is a multi-billion dollar industry, but to see how seriously these experts take a single issue of a single magazine is risible, even Wintour’s own family finds it “amusing.” And I find the ridiculous outfits paraded by those anorexic coke-heads to be contemptible jokes foisted off on a gullible public. How anyone can take them seriously is beyond me. If you want to know how I REALLY feel, you have only to ask.

I found only two items of even vague interest: 1) Where are the missing photos of Sienna Miller which were taken at the Coliseum? 2) When Assistant Editor Grace Coddington manages, in the nick of time, to cancel Wintour’s instructions to Photoshop a candid picture of a photographer: Grace kept his slight tummy bulge in the shot.

Evidently September is the new January in the fashion world, so it is essential to Vogue’s prestige to launch a catalog-sized issue each September. If you are a fashion victim who dotes on the latest and greatest clothing trends, you absolutely MUST see this movie. For the rest of us, it’s sorta like discovering how sausage is made: We’d rather not know….